Saint of the day April 16

 Saint of the day April 16

St. Donan. A remarkable fact about the widespread work of the Celtic missionary saints from the fifth century onwards is that scarcely any cases of violent opposition or martyrdom are recorded until the Viking and Danish raids began at the end of the ninth century. The pagan Celts accepted the missionaries even when they did not accept their religion and pagan and Christian symbols are found side by side on the great Pictish stones. Donan (or Donnan) deserves a note in these pages not only because of the extent of his journeying but because he and his fellow monks on the island of Eigg provide the most dreadful case of martyrdom in the history of the Celtic Church. He and fifty-two of his followers were butchered within the refectory of the monastery. The only other martyrdoms recorded seem to be those of Constantine of Kintyre and of Kessog, and the latter is doubtful.

St. Bernadette Soubirous, Roman Catholic Nun. Feastday April 16

Bl. Pierre Delepine, Roman Catholic layman and a martyr during the French Revolution. Feastday April 16

Bl. Francoise Micheneau Gillot, Roman Catholic laywoman martyred during the French Revolution. Feastday April 16

Bl. Francoise Suhard Menard, Roman Catholic laywoman martyred during the French Revolution. Feastday April 16

Bl. Anne Maugrain, Roman Catholic laywoman martyred during the French Revolution. Feastday April 16